(Describer) In an animation, streams of light collide to create a globe filled with water. Title: Science Nation. Wearing gloves, a worker feeds a clear film around the spokes of a machine.
(male narrator)
The manufacturing in this
specially lit clean room
is about to go
mainstream.
Tiny nanodevices are embedded
and rolling off the presses.
(Describer) ...in the film.
Think of it as a leap forward
in fabrication.
In the future, these methods
could bring clothing
that protect soldiers
from chemical weapons
or small Band-Aids that
constantly monitor vital signs
in real time, whether
we're at work or at play.
(Describer) Jim Watkins:
You have something that performs
better and is less expensive.
That's the heart
of nanomanufacturing.
(narrator)
With support from the
National Science Foundation,
University of Massachusetts
Amherst chemical engineer
Jim Watkins and his team
at the NSF Center
for Hierarchical
Manufacturing
are working to take nanotech
from the lab bench
to an industrial scale.
(Describer) Film winds through a much larger machine.
(male)
The center paves that road
from the laboratory
to a manufacturable platform
where industry can use it
in a real-world process
to make products that people
want and can afford.
(narrator)
This roll to roll process
is already used
in traditional manufacturing.
But now Watkins and his team
are developing methods
to incorporate nanotechnologies
into the process.
That's of high interest
to Jim Casey,
who works for FLEXcon,
a company
that manufactures labels
and coatings
using a roll to roll system.
(male)
But we are working in areas
with antimicrobial surfaces,
some health monitoring systems,
some defense applications.
The application potential
is huge
and the opportunities
overwhelming.
(narrator)
It's a big job working
with materials this small.
Nanoparticles are
about 100,000 times thinner
than a human hair.
(Describer) At the smaller machine...
The wet film now on the outside
of this roll, travels up...
(narrator)
The team is working
on a nanomanufacturing process
to make printable coatings
that improve the way
solar panels absorb
and direct light.
Watkins says there's a similar
process to light up a room.
(male)
On windows,
they bend light
to illuminate
a room's top and bottom,
improving ambient lighting.
(narrator)
Communications is another area
ripe for nanomanufacturing.
(male)
We can use nanotechnology to
shrink the size of an antenna
and improve the sensitivity
of the sensor.
(narrator)
They are also looking to use
self-assembling nanoproducts
that could have applications
for many industries.
(male)
We build inks that are composed
of macromolecules,
nanoparticles, nanotubes,
nanorods.
These systems will
spontaneously assemble
into the structure morphology
that we want, on their own.
(narrator)
Down the line,
the applications
for nanomanufactured products
are nearly endless.
Better sensors could improve
cancer imaging
and make the lines in airport
security dwindle away.
It's all about working
with industries
to expand their reach into this
brave, tiny, new world.
(Describer) A globe turns by the title.
For Science Nation,
I'm Miles O'Brien.
